July 14, 2009

This past Sunday I preached on Genesis 18 and 19, the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah and going into the prep for the sermon I was looking for similarities to their situation and ours, along with the corresponding prospect of impending judgment.

Along the way I was reminded of the statement at the title of this post "if God doesn't judge America, He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah." I found that this was originally spoken by Billy Graham, and I have heard it repeated by many different people in many different contexts.

As I studied the passage though I came to the conclusion that this statement is unhelpful at best, and biblically irresponsible at worst. I say this not to cast aspersion on Billy Graham, a great father in the faith who deserves the honor he receives from his Christian brethren. But the statement itself, with the applications that have risen by many Christians doesn't correspond with Scriptural reality and therefore ought to be removed from Christian rhetoric.

Why did Sodom and Gomorrah fall? Many think that it fell because of the rampant sexual immorality, particularly homosexuality. This brings up another questionable belief in conservative Christian circles - the belief that the acceptance of homosexuality is kind of the "last straw" before God brings judgment and destruction on a nation. This is another view I have often heard expressed, and several times I have heard the Roman Empire used as an example of this. The idea is that Rome descended into greater and greater immorality, culminating in the widespread acceptance of homosexuality, and this precipitated the fall of Rome.

There are several problems with that view. For one, there is some debate as to whether and when Rome actually "fell." Having said that, if there was in fact a fall of Rome, the conventional view is that it fell around 476AD. The problem with the idea that it fell as a result of increasing moral decadence and particularly homosexuality is that by this time Constantine had come and gone and had "Christianized" the empire. Of course, bringing up Constantine raises a whole 'nuther set of issues as to whether or not his form of "Christianizing" the empire was a good thing or the right thing. But I think it is safe to say that in giving Christianity the protection and favor of the Roman government he accomplished what many Americans, who buy the "moral decadence led to the fall of Rome" hypothesis, are seeking to accomplish. In other words, for the 150 or so years before the fall of Rome Christianity was "on the rise" at least in terms of political and cultural influence, again a state of affairs that many Christians seek today. But this leaves those who hold to the "moral decadence precipitated the fall of Rome" view with a conundrum. How is it that the political and international fell during the rise of Christianity in the empire?

Getting back to Sodom and Gomorrah there is an analogy here in the sense that, looking at the biblical texts you can't make the case that moral decadence was the one single cause of the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah.

I suggest that Genesis 18-19 show at least five cultural/social/moral/political conditions that contributed to the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah.

1. They were a threat to others - I'll start here with a bit of speculation and one point that I won't die for, but I think is worth considering. Genesis 18:20-21 talk about an "outcry" against Sodom and Gomorrah. This outcry is similar to the "outrcy" of the blood of Abel against Cain in Genesis 4. It is the outcry of the poor for justice in Proverbs 21:13. It presupposes victimization - some entity has dealt unjuustly and criminally with some other entity. By analogy, when God told Israel to drive the Canaanites out of the promised land in Joshua this was not a mere land-grab on the part of God and Israel. Not only were the Canaanites guilty of gross immorality and injustice within the confines of their own nation, they exported their evil, so that they were a threat to other nations and societies. See Glen MIller's thoughtful words on the annihilation of the Canaanites here for more on that.

So, though the text does not spell this out explicitly I do believe that my speculation is well founded, that Sodom and Gomorrah most likely posed a threat to peoples outside of their own cities.

2. Acceptance of and promotion of immorality - when all of the men of Sodom came to Lot's door to have sex with his visitors we see a predatory form of immorality. Today, it is common for us to discuss morals with people and get the reply that "it's my own body and what I do in the privacy of my own bedroom is none of your business." While there is everything wrong with that statement, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah went way beyond that. For them what they did with someone else's body was also fair game.

And while we often focus on the homosexuality involved here, it is important to see that this is not the only thing going on here. The spirit of Sodom had infected Lot and his family so that Lot's solution to the predatory homosexual intentions of the men of Sodom was to offer his daughters to them to be raped by them instead. Further, Lot had allowed his daughters to be pledged to be married to men of Sodom, and further still, his daughters showed how deeply Sodom had embedded itself in their lives when they committed incest with Lot.

In short, these were towns where moral decadence ruled the day - they not only practiced their immorality, but approved of those who practiced these things (see Romans 1:32) and they foisted their immorality on the unwilling.

3. General lawlessness - again, this is not spelled out explicitly, but I think it is worth noting that there seemed to be no one in Sodom to whom Lot could or would appeal for the protection of his guests. In general, there seemed to be no societal resistance to the criminal intents of the citizens.

4. Unrestrained greed - Ezekiel 16:49-50 offers the following inspired commentary on the sins of Sodom:

49﻿ “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. ﻿50﻿ They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

The "detestable things" are mentioned here which seems to be a reference to the moral decadence. But of equal import in the sight of God was the sin of arrogance, the apparent greed of the Sodomites. Richard Stearns comments on this passage in "The Hole in Our Gospel"

Indeed the prophet Ezekiel wrote that Sodom's cardinal sin was wealth induced arrogance and unconcern for the poor, not the sexual immorality that we more commonly associate with its violent destruction.

5. 100% evil

Genesis 19:4 says:

Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house.

Notice that it was all the men of Sodom, not some, not even a majority. When God spoke with Abraham in Genesis 18 it became clear that there was not one righteous person in Sodom and Gomorrah. Evil had penetrate the whole of those cities, individually, corporately, personally and culturally. This is similar to the situation in Noah's day when God brought the flood. Genesis 6:5 says:

that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.

Every, not some, inclination of man's heart was "only" evil, all, not some of the time.

These passages indicate that in the Old Testament era God didn't bring judgment when some of the people of a society are evil, or even the majority - it's when practically all of the people of a society are evil.

Also, it is worthwhile to point out that God can put up with a great deal of sin for a long period of time - see Genesis !5:14-16, where God is willing to wait 400 years before putting the hammer down on the sins of the Amorites.

So put this all together and I believe that the text of Genesis 18-19 does not give us warrant for saying that America is just like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Are we a threat to other nations? This is an interesting question because our Muslim neighbors would probably say that we are the biggest threat in the world to other nations, particularly Muslim nations. I don't buy that. I think history shows that America has been a great, maybe one of the greatest benefactors to other nations, and I believe that continues today. While I think it is a worthy topic for debate as to whether our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan meets the criteria of "just war" theories, I believe that, setting that debate aside, we have been and still are a nation that has brought much good to other nations.

Do we accept and promote immorality the way they did in Sodom and Gomorrah. I do believe that we accept and promote immorality in our nation like never before and that is only growing. Have we gotten to the point though, where we accept and promote the kind of predatory immorality that was accepted and promoted in Sodom and Gomorrah, I don't think so. Do we accept the kind of behavior that Lot showed in offering his daughters to the men of Sodom? I don't think so. Do we accept incest? I don't think so.

Are we as lawless as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. I don't believe we are. We still have laws in effect and that are enforced, albeit quite imperfectly to protect the weak and vulnerable.

Are we as greedy and uncaring about the poor as the people of Sodom and Gomorrah? We have a materialistic and greedy society, maybe one of the most materialistic in the world. Yet, do we, on the whole turn a blind eye to the poor the way that Sodom and Gomorrah do. I don't believe we do. While I believe our governing officials have done as much or more harm to the poor with their social programs, outside of government their are multitudes of individuals and non-profits working to support the poor in our own nation and around the world.

Finally, have we reached a state of near 100% evil in our society, where almost everyone engages in and promotes the kinds of evil practiced by the Sodomites. I don't believe so. While Christianity is on the decline, there are many, many pockets in our nation of practicing believers who are sincerely seeking to follow Christ, albeit imperfectly. And even amongst our neighbors who don't follow Christ I see many wonderful and awe inspiring examples of civic virtue. While immorality is on the rise in our nation, I believe that many, if not most of our neighbors who don't follow Christ would be shocked at the behavior of the Sodomites and would oppose it strongly.

Having said all of the above, I have not dealt at all with the epochal shifts in God's economy after the coming of Christ. In the Old Testament the health and progress of the kingdom of God was tied up in the geopolitical fortunes of the nation of Israel. Thus, the way God showed His favor was largely on the basis of the geopolitical fortunes of Israel and it's enemies. God showed favor by blessing and prospering different nations.

After the coming of Christ, the "nation" of Israel, the true Israel, became the church, an international body, a nation within the nations. The fortunes of the the people of God were no longer tied to the geopolitical prosperity of particular nations. This does not mean that God is no longer concerned with the "nations," after all, even after Christ, He is the one who establishes the "authorities" in the nations - see Romans 13:1. But his way of dealing with the nations is different today. The true "Christian nation," the church can thrive even in the midst of hostile nations. The early church grew and thrived in the midst of pagan Rome. Today, the church has thrived in the midst of a hostile and atheistic nation like China.

None of this changes the fact that evil is evil wherever it is found and it is the duty of Christians to resist evil wherever it is found. We are to resist it biblically, redemptively, with the gospel. And yes, there is no doubt that evil is on the rise in America in many ways and is therefore to be resisted in the strongest terms.

But engaging in over-inflated rhetoric is not the way to resist evil. Yes, saying things along the lines of "if God doesn't judge America He'll have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah" is a great way to generate fear, anxiety and worry in the hearts and minds of your constituents. Such rhetoric plays well in fundraising letters and is the kind of rhetoric that can get you on TV or in print but it is biblically irresponsible to speak in such a way.

Conservative Christians are given to rhetorical overstatement, particularly when we speak on matters that have been co-opted by the political industry. Inducing fear and worry in the hearts of people is one of the greatest mobilization techniques available to people of any persuasion on any matter. But playing to or seeking to induce fear and worry in the hearts of people is not a Christian practice. It is capitulation to the spirit of the age which is fueled by sensationalism and the creation of crises.

Yes, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has application today. Many individuals and societies are on the road to Sodom and Gomorrah and we need to heed the warnings implied. But let's be biblically responsible in how we deal this.

It is enough to confront evil by saying what the Scriptures say and applying biblical techniques and remedies to those evils. Its not flashy or spectacular. Practicing true biblical Christianity in the arena of public rhetoric will seem too boring and will take too long to produce results to get you on TV in the way that sensationalistic rhetoric will get you noticed by the press and will mobilize the fearful and worried among the populace.

But you will have the consolation of doing things God's way, and that is sufficient.

14 Comments

Good post. That is a quote of a quote. Many sources say it was something Ruth Graham said to Billy Graham in 1965, after she read his book, World Aflame. He found it quotable and used it, but gave her credit each time. I can't prove that, and it might have been Dr. Graham, but that seems to be as likely as any other explanation. It's one of those remarks that she probably never thought of as being made into its own version of holy scripture! I like your comments about it.

I'm not sure that I agree with everything you've said, but I think what you have written is a thoughtful, intelligent approach to where we see ourselves at this point in time. Men can only theorize, however, and speculate when it comes to the mind of God. All of the words and ideas of man aside, nothing else really matters in the end. All of our reasoning about situational suppositions and our comparing ourselves with others who have already passed from life on this planet, while interesting, in truth settle nothing. The danger of such eloquence in presenting something of this nature can be to those who would tend to accept what is being presented as an absolute truth. But again, my point is that there is only one truth, and only God, Allah, our Creator, or whatever our personal spiritual and/or religious concept may be, actually knows this truth. I enjoyed your article and do appreciate your thoughts.

To those who think America is evil it's interesting that we just lived through about one hundred years of the most hallucinogenic evil man can bring about on this planet (fascism, communism, militant Islam, etc.) and it was America who sacrificed blood and treasure in fighting just about all of it. I mean, what exactly does it take to disabuse the mindset "America is the evil in the world." If not the history of the 20th century (and 2000-2009) then nothing will do it. Frankly it's perverse and rather disgusting. And really anything one says about it is a gigantic understatement.

"When God spoke with Abraham in Genesis 18 it became clear that there was not one righteous person in Sodom and Gomorrah."

Perhaps there is an intended echo of that in Psalm 14:3 and Romans 3:10. If this is the case, then St. Paul is saying we are all like Sodom, and that after chapters 1 and 2 painted just how bad such a society was. (This is at least a possible reading.) One society was chosen to be notorious, and after the notoriety was built up in people's minds, God tells everyone they deserve the same. But He doesn't leave it there. This is a prelude to the Gospel, not a political campaign.

This is an excellent post. The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah go far beyond simple acceptance of homosexuality. Too often preachers are more interested in slogans than genuine biblical analysis. Slogans may attract the crowds, but they don't produce anything of real substance.

Absolutely excellent post. I'll be posting on this soon, I think. One thing to think about: is it relevant that Jesus says those who rejected him in his day would have it worse than Sodom and Gomorrah, which assumes they were worse? I suspect they weren't morally worse in the ways you nicely detail in this post. Is it because they reject Jesus directly and in person? Or is he saying that rejection of him post-AD is worse than the biggest example of sin pre-AD? How does that affect the question of evaluating what Billy Graham said? I think it does change how we think about the question.

This is a complex world. If God will destroy America because of homosexuality, well God is biased, because these behaviors are predominant in England and other Asian and eurpean countries. So he will have to destroy a larger section of the world, or the whole world. Every single person commits sins on a daily basis because of material implications. There is no genuinely pure person. No priests or preachers cannot tell us that they do not lust, greed, and express negative emotions. However, I believe that God may be confused, himself, as to what is going on in this world, that he is afraid in sending his son, Jesus. People are still resorting to worship IDOLS, as the Pharoahs and Eygptians did. Look at India, for example, they have been worshipping multitude of idols. They have replaced GOD. Some Christians worship Virgin Mary(what vergin?) and the cross, etc. This world is worse than Sodom and Gommorah, you are right, God owes Sodom and Gommorah an apology.

I can’t agree with your premise. Is it really "over-inflated rhetoric" that we need to be worried about? In my opinion our failure is in understating the case rather than overstating it. God doesn’t need a certain level of immorality and lawlessness from us before He may righteously send judgment. You talk about Billy Graham’s statement as an example of “playing to or seeking to induce fear and worry in the hearts of people” and say that it is not a “Christian practice.” All I can say is that there are many things in the pages of scripture that should produce fear if understood properly. Should we not read the Revelation because it might scare someone? Fear is what drove me to Jesus when I was practicing astrology and happened upon Isaiah 47:13-14. Reading that the astrologers, “are like stubble; the fire will burn them up”, caused me a great deal of fear, which resulted in me repenting and turning to the Lord!

The truth is the world is sitting on the precipice of impending judgment. God has every right to judge America, or any other nation, right now. We don’t need to sin more to fall under that judgment. This should scare anyone that properly understands that fact! It could happen suddenly, without warning or delay. Isn’t this why we’re told that, “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation”? Whether individual, or nation, we are not given any guarantees of a reprieve. “Flee to Christ while you still can!” is the message here, “You may not have a tomorrow to do so.” We need to be very careful that we do not blunt the truth of this. Far from being, “biblically irresponsible to speak in such a way”, Graham was doing his listeners a favor.

Certain people such as Greg Boyd & others need 2 get off their intellectual over educated high horses & take their heads out of their rear ends and accept Gods word 4 what it says b4 they end up in the same degenerated souffle! ! !

JUDE 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, having in like manner with these given themselves over to fornication and gone after
((( strange flesh ))) are set forth as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Sodom and Gomorrah happened before Jesus came to this earth. After Jesus has paid all our sins, it will be unjust if GOD does judge America, Japan etc. Even Jesus rebuked John and James when they wanted to command fire just as Elijah did in the old testament. We are in era after Jesus has paid it all… We are supposed to be the ambassador of LOVE. Show them love and how much GOD love them, and they will be back to Jesus for what He has done on the cross. NOT SCARE them by saying GOD is judging this and that. When Osama still alived, he would be happy to say…. “that’s why GOD used me to judge America”. Do you think something wrong somewhere if you are in the same thinking with him?

Luke 9:51-56
51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,
52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.
53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.
54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.
56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Some people like to scare people by saying things out of context in the bible. I am not a bible expert. But to me, too many evidence in the bible mentioned that the way to lead to REPENTANCE is by BACK TO GRACE. Grace is unmerited favour by GOD. We can not earn nor buy it.

Luke 5
Four Fishermen Called as Disciples

1 So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.

question: is it a net breaking that full of fishes ( in other words GOD's Grace) or repentance come first?

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Another comparison good story in New Testament

Luke 18
Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”[a]
21 And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

Luke 19
Jesus Comes to Zacchaeus’ House

1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him,[a] and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

question: Which one repented? The Rich Young Ruler whom Jesus showed the Law he could not fulfill? Or The Tax Collector whom Jesus just gave pure Grace?

that's why i now understand why in Roman 6:14 said "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace"

1 Cor 15:56 --- The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

So it is not true to lead people to repent by making them afraid or judging/condemning them. Jesus is a good shepherd. And a good shepherd is not beating the sheep but protecting the sheep even searching the sheep when it lost.

I got this Grace teaching by Pastor Joseph Prince. And after i know what is Grace all about, it makes me love God more. And i don't feel condemned. Condemnation kills. And when i am under Grace, it doesn't make me want to sin some more. But Grace empowered me to sin no more by beholding the beauty and love of Jesus Christ.